1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to toys that have posable features, such as movable facial features. More particularly, the present invention relates to mechanisms used to manually manipulate such posable features.
2. Prior Art Description
Many toys, such as dolls and puppets, have heads with facial features. The facial features are typically molded and/or painted into fixed positions.
As such, the facial features of the toy remain constant. However, with more sophisticated dolls and puppets, certain facial features, such as the eyes and mouths can be manipulated into different positions. In this manner, at least some of the facial features can be selectively altered by the person playing with the toy.
In early designs, dolls and puppets had eyes that were set behind holes in the eye sockets of the head. The eyes were attached to levers that could be moved up and down or side to side in order to change the orientation of the eyes. Facial features like the mouth were made adjustable by using a hinge at the jaw. In this manner, the jaw could be made to open and close. However, since the jaw was made with a hinge, the jaw had visible hinge lines. These hinge lines detracted from the aesthetics of the toy and made the doll or puppet seam less realistic.
In more modern designs, the heads of dolls and puppets have been molded as a shell of elastomeric material. This enables facial features of the toy to be selectively altered in shape without having to use hinge lines or other cuts in the apparent skin of the toy. Since the apparent skin of the toy is made from a flexible material, mechanisms can be positioned below the skin that adjusts the positions and contours of the facial features. Such prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,696 to Sapkus and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0014831 to Rettberg et al.
As indicated by the patents cited above, some prior art dolls have elastomeric skin and adjustable facial features that are adjusted by mechanisms under the elastomeric skin. A problem that exists in such prior art dolls is that once a particular facial feature is set into a position by a person, that facial feature often inadvertently changes. The changes are often caused by tensions in the elastomeric skin of the toy. This is especially true if the toy has a thick rubber skin or if the material being used for the skin is particularly resilient. Over time, the tension in the skin pulls at the underlying mechanisms, therein causing features to change appearance. The only prior solution to this problem is to make the facial features highly resistant to movement. However, this has the adverse affect of making the toy difficult to adjust during play.
A need therefore exists for a toy having adjustable facial features, wherein the toy has elastomeric skin, yet the resiliency of the skin does not cause inadvertent changes in the facial features.
This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.